To a large extent, you are studying and building systems.  Below is a suggested format and explanation of how to work with solutions in a way that will build on your knowledge.  As you document your work in the last step, you will be helping to create a knowledge base that current and future students can use to gain a greater understanding.

Examine a system.
In this step, you are choosing the structure of your project and what you are studying.  The thing that you are studying could be working with the Windows operating system to save your files in a predictable way, or it could be a control system for a robot.

Learn how to work it.
Here you use all the information you can get your hands on to understand what it is and how it works.  Experiment with it.  Use tutorials to learn how the interface works.  Read books about it.  Ask people you know (or don't) how it works.  Gather information about as many aspects as you can so you can better understand it.

Customize an existing system.
Take some existing project and make it your own.  Use some piece of knowledge about the system and tweak it.  Add features to a house design. Use a robot design and make it better.  By adding to an existing solution you gain in a few ways.  First, the tutorial or 'canned' solution will give you a project that will have a certain amount of features.  You will learn a bunch of stuff about ways to work within the system, but you will not have to understand every single aspect of the problem.  When you add features to the existing solution, you will stretch your knowledge of the interface or system.

Devise your own problem.
After you know enough about the ways the system actually works, you will want to create a problem that you can solve.  This may be designing an electrical circuit that is not covered in any of the resources that you have found, but actually solves a need.  It should not matter if another person has tackled the same problem as you, because you will be coming up with an original solution.

Make an original solution.
You should articulate or describe the problem clearly.  Write it out.  Draw pictures of the problem and possible solutions.  Gather as much information about the problem and its possible solutions as you can.  In this step, you will be using much of the knowledge and information that you have accumulated in the previous steps.  Make pictures of your solutions.  Make notes on what works and what doesn't.  Understand why some things work better than others.  Talk to other people about what might work and try out their suggestions.

Communicate what you have done and learned in the above steps.
The most universal system for communicating with people over time and distance is web pages.  Generally speaking, there is no special software or 'plug-ins'.  The software to used create the web pages is readily available for free.  You can easily write text that explains your way of thinking.  You can make digital photographs that show what you have done.  You can photograph your notes, or you can recreate them in the computer.  You can include links to web-based resources that helped you figure out some of the things you learned.